SR0132LRB101 11261 ALS 56569 r

1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, President Trump declared a national emergency on
3Friday, January 15, 2019 by falsely declaring that there is an
4invasion of drugs, human traffickers, criminals, and gangs in
5the United States; and
 
6    WHEREAS, By declaring a national emergency, President
7Trump plans to take funding away from military projects,
8including facility maintenance, family housing at military
9bases across the country, and schools for children of members
10of the military; and
 
11    WHEREAS, President Trump will use $600 million from a
12Treasury Department forfeiture fund, $2.5 billion from a
13military anti-drug account, and $3.6 billion in military
14construction funds to fund a permanent wall to help civilian
15agencies police the border, even though Congress already
16appropriated $1.375 billion for new border barriers; and
 
17    WHEREAS, During his run for the presidency, candidate Trump
18used racist, xenophobic talking points and, at one point,
19accused Mexican immigrants of bringing drugs and crime into the
20country and of being rapists; he also claimed that Mexico, a
21sovereign nation, would pay for the wall; and
 

 

 

SR0132- 2 -LRB101 11261 ALS 56569 r

1    WHEREAS, The Department of Homeland Security has stated
2that undocumented immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated
3for crimes in the United States than native-born Americans, and
4that number has consistently declined since 2016; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The number of unauthorized immigrants who have
6crossed the border without documents has sharply declined; when
7candidate Trump took office, the number of undocumented
8immigrants had decreased from 12.2 million in 2007 to 10.7
9million in 2016; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Trump Administration's own 2018 Drug Threat
11Assessment found that only a small percentage of heroin seized
12by Customs and Border Protection Agents along the land border
13was between ports of entry; most of the drugs seized by Customs
14and Border Protection Agents were along the United
15States-Mexico border in the San Diego corridor; and
 
16    WHEREAS, By the President's own admission, he "did not have
17to [declare a national emergency], but he just wanted [the
18wall] built faster to fulfill a campaign promise"; a national
19emergency is a situation that is immediately threatening the
20livelihood of Americans, not something declared to appease a
21President; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Congress is the branch in charge of federal

 

 

SR0132- 3 -LRB101 11261 ALS 56569 r

1appropriations, a power granted to the legislative branch by
2the United States Constitution; the executive branch does not
3have the power to override Congress's appropriation powers for
4a manufactured emergency; and
 
5    WHEREAS, President Trump is abusing the power of executive
6orders to circumvent the United States Constitution and
7Congress to override the American people's will to not fund the
8wall; Congress compromised and allocated funds to reinforce
9border patrol and existing walls; if the President seeks more
10funding, he should use the art of the deal to negotiate a
11compromise that better suits his need; therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
13ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we reject President
14Trump's national emergency that is fueled by racist and
15xenophobic rhetoric; we urge Congress and the Courts to uphold
16our system of checks and balances and the existence of
17separation of powers between the judicial, legislative, and
18executive branches; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to reject the diversion of
20funding from military projects, including facility
21maintenance, family housing at military bases across the
22country, and schools for children of members of the military;
23and be it further
 

 

 

SR0132- 4 -LRB101 11261 ALS 56569 r

1    RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to revoke the national
2emergency by passing a joint resolution to revoke the
3unnecessary state of emergency.